Meet Angel

Angel Stewart was a teenager in 1994 when she was held captive by two men in Iowa. While these two men brutally raped and terrorized Angel and another juvenile female, they also threatened harm to Angel’s one year old child who they also held captive. During their captivity, these two men kidnapped and murdered two elderly women from their neighborhood and murdered them—one in Iowa, one in Missouri. Angel’s only thought throughout the horrific events continued to be protecting her baby from harm.

When the police caught up to them, Angel ran to them with her child in her arms, and immediately locked herself in a patrol car. The initial officers on the scene then considered her a victim and immediately drove her to a local store to purchase food and diapers for her child. It was only later that they were instructed that she was a “participant” in the crimes. Angel refused to plead guilty to any crime for over a year. Threatened with the death penalty, she eventually pled guilty to kidnapping and received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Angel was physically and sexually abused by her father for a number of years prior to these events. Angel also has severe learning issues which inhibited her ability to read and to comprehend her plea agreement. Angel has been in prison for 20 years for the murders which she did not commit, and while being victimized herself.